


Oblivion - Late 1981

by swannkings



Series: Portrait of Imogen Swift [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Hogwarts Mystery
Genre: Childhood Memories, Gen, Pre-Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-02 00:23:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15785145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swannkings/pseuds/swannkings
Summary: When the First Wizarding War comes to an end, Imogen is only left with unanswerable questions.





	Oblivion - Late 1981

It seemed as if the house itself sagged in relief at the news of Voldemort’s defeat. There were whispers through the Floo that night, echoing up to Imogen’s bedroom. A chorus of _He's been killed! You-know-who is gone!_ Imogen had spent nearly her entire childhood to that point worrying about being snatched and taken away - forced to become a Death Eater or killed on the spot. She thought this was her parents’ fear as well, until it became clear the anxiety they held all those years could not be wiped out overnight.

“When is Jacob coming home?” she'd asked the next morning over breakfast. “If You-know-who is gone, can't he come home?”

Amalthea glanced to Weland who in turn folded up the Daily Prophet and told Imogen to finish her meal. In the weeks following, more news came of Voldemort’s followers being arrested and tried and taken to Azkaban; every morning Imogen would cross the hall to check her brother’s room in case he had returned in the night; every night before bed she would sneak the Daily Prophet from the bin to search for Jacob Swift.

It was when Sybil Smelder from down the road said Jacob had been a Death Eater and all the newspapers said so that Imogen began to doubt ever seeing her brother again. Sybil had even shown her the headline from that morning’s Prophet: **TEENAGE WIZARD WITH RAPACIOUS PAST SAID TO BE IN LEAGUE WITH DARK LORD**. The article, written by Rita Skeeter, painted Jacob as a lost soul. A poor boy with a voraciously inquisitive mind expelled from Hogwarts after repeatedly endangering students with long dormant curses, witnessed colluding with now known Death Eaters and expectedly on the run from authorities. Amalthea Swift quoted as saying “How could our dear son be so cruel? What tragedy this is for a mother’s heart.”

Imogen rolled up the paper and smacked Sybil over the head with it. Her mother didn't speak like that, and she would never have said such things about Jacob. Still, neither her mother nor her father had mentioned the Death Eater business, not even the reason for Jacob’s expulsion. It had all been a vaguely gray thing. _Don't listen to what people say, Mo. They don't know what they're talking about._ Had they lied?

She asked later that night after her parents had grounded her for “attacking” Sybil. At first they didn’t answer, possibly pretending not to hear. When she asked again Weland and Amalthea shared a look, silently communicating.

“Imogen,” her mother started, “Sometimes the truth isn’t easy. Jacob did leave school under unfortunate circumstances. We didn’t think you needed to know why. It doesn’t change how we feel about him.”

“What about the other thing?”

They looked to be processing the question before Weland answered, “We don’t know where he is, but do you think he would do what the papers say he did?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about. Jacob is a smart boy, resourceful. Once all of this trouble passes over, we’ll be a complete family again.”

But it didn’t answer her question. She knew she couldn’t press the subject further, so she stayed quiet and took her father’s advice. The following nights were riddled with unease. Imogen quit speaking to Sybil Smelder and most of the other neighboring children. No matter what she said or did, they refused to believe her brother’s innocence. Her dreams were often filled with the squashed face of Sybil Smelder taunting her, followed by flashes of dark figures, monsters, and finally her brother, faceless and never within reach.

On Christmas Eve of 1981, Imogen woke with a start. She quickly slipped from bed and crossed the hall to the door of Jacob’s room. She could hear a tapping noise from inside. Her heart leapt. She carefully turned the knob and pushed the door open. The room was dark, and she could feel a presence. Imogen felt for the lamp on the nightstand and switched it on, the warm glow illuminating the small room. Her brother wasn’t there. The bed was still unmade and everything as he’d left it when he disappeared. With one exception. The tapping noise. Imogen went to the window and peered out. Resting on the perch outside was Jacob’s owl: Juno.

Imogen slid open the window, Juno hopping in and flapping over to her perch on the nightstand. A small tube of parchment was tied to her foot. There was only one word scribbled in Jacob’s hand: _Oblivion_.


End file.
